


Warm

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, pre-104th christmas time with rba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 16:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13127346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Reiner was grinning widely, and by the light of his lantern Bertholdt was finally able to identify what was sitting beneath the tree. They were presents. Lumpy, poorly wrapped presents covered in brown paper and tied with twine, but presents all the same.“Merry Christmas,” Reiner said, his eyes shimmering. Bertholdt’s breath caught in his throat.





	Warm

**Author's Note:**

> takes place after the fall of maria and before they join the 104th. i like to believe that there were rare, brief moments when this trio wasn't a complete Disaster

“Hey, Bertholdt. Wake up.”

Bertholdt groaned, turning away from the firm hand on his shoulder. He heard Reiner chuckle softly. “Come on, buddy. I have something to show you.”

Bertholdt blinked awake, taking in his surroundings in a sleepy haze. He was in the room he shared with Annie and Reiner, but it was much too dark outside for it to be time to get up for work. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, glancing over toward where Reiner had moved to sit on the edge of Annie’s bed. “Wake up, An—”

Her hand shot out and grabbed his almost before it touched her shoulder, and she sat up and looked around defensively. “What? What’s wrong?” she asked, and Bertholdt found it amazing that such a tiny girl with bedhead could still manage to be so scary.

“Ow, Annie, my hand,” Reiner said with a grimace. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong. Just… come outside with me for a second.”

Annie glared at him, the dark circles under her eyes prominent. Having to regularly sneak into the capital to gather information, on top of the field work they already had to do, was taking an obvious toll on her. Bertholdt hoped that whatever Reiner wanted to show them was worth robbing her of precious hours of sleep.

Regardless, she and Bertholdt both got up obediently, slipping on their jackets and sneaking out quietly so as not to wake the others in the farmhouse. 

It was a large property, and they weren’t the only refugee children that had been brought there from the shelters after the fall of Wall Maria. The landowners, Mr. and Mrs. McGregor, were kind and hospitable, and they’d gotten extraordinarily lucky with this arrangement. Bertholdt tried not to think of the fact that there were probably three kids who had been left homeless after the fall, who might have benefitted from the warm beds that were instead being utilized by the Colossal, Armored, and Female Titans.

No good came from thoughts like that, Reiner was always reminding him.

Annie was shivering violently and looking more and more irritated by the second as they trudged through the snow, the crunching of their boots loud in the quiet early morning air. They didn’t exactly have appropriate winter jackets, since they couldn’t afford such things, so they had to settle for the thin, worn garments that the McGregors had to spare. Bertholdt’s was full of holes that Reiner had tried to patch up with his subpar sewing skills, and Annie’s was missing more than half of its buttons, so she had to hold it shut. Reiner’s could hardly even be considered a jacket, it was more of a light hooded sweatshirt.

They came to a sudden stop in front of an old pine tree a little ways away from the house, and Bertholdt had to squint through the darkness to identify the dark shapes sitting beneath it. Annie seemed to realize what was going on before he did, because she stiffened beside him in surprise. “Reiner…” she said, all of the previous frustration leaking out of her immediately.

Reiner was grinning widely, and by the light of his lantern Bertholdt was finally able to identify what was sitting beneath the tree. They were presents. Lumpy, poorly wrapped presents covered in brown paper and tied with twine, but presents all the same.

“Merry Christmas,” Reiner said, his eyes shimmering. Bertholdt’s breath caught in his throat.

He hadn’t even realized it was Christmas. It wasn’t something that was celebrated within the walls, and he’d been much too preoccupied with other things to keep track of dates. Judging the look on Annie’s face, she hadn’t realized, either.

“Reiner,” Bertholdt breathed. “You… you didn’t have to…”

“We didn’t get you anything,” Annie said, her voice flat and carefully emotionless. Reiner waved them off.

“Don’t worry about it. Come on, open ‘em up,” he said excitedly, grabbing the biggest two presents and handing them off. Neither Annie nor Bertholdt made a move to open them, and Reiner groaned exasperatedly. “Hurry, it’s cold.”

Bertholdt eventually made the first move, tearing through the brown paper with care and marveling at the thick, wool fabric that was unveiled as he pulled it away. He held the brand new winter jacket out in front of him in shock. He knew how expensive they were, especially one this nice. Reiner must have been saving up for ages. He glanced over at Annie to see that she was holding up a jacket, too.

Reiner was grinning again. “You like them? They should at least keep you warmer than what you have now,” he said brightly. “Go on, try them on.”

Bertholdt pulled off his old coat and slid on the new one, trying to keep the tears in his eyes at bay as he was immediately enveloped in warmth. Annie was silent as she did the same. “Reiner, how much did these cost you?” Bertholdt asked softly.

Reiner raised an eyebrow. “That’s rude to ask, Bertl,” he said, nudging him lightly with his shoulder. He picked up the other two presents under the tree, these ones much smaller than the last. “Here, don’t worry, I didn’t spend a dime on these ones.”

This time, Annie opened hers first, her eyes widening as a small, silver ring fell into her hand. She gave Reiner a weird look, and he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Uh, I made it. Mr. McGregor has been teaching me some metalworking, so I thought I’d give it a shot. And look.” He took the ring from her, flicking a little switch on the side to reveal a small blade. He lowered his voice. “Y’know, in case of emergencies. I, uh… I know I’ve been putting a lot on you, Annie, and I’m sorry. More than anything, I want you to stay safe, okay?”

Annie blinked rapidly, trying the ring on her finger. She looked up at him, her expression impossible to read. “Okay,” she said.

Reiner turned to Bertholdt expectantly, and Bertholdt tore into his second gift with shaky fingers. A little wooden figure fell out into his hand. It had clearly been whittled, and was still a little jagged and splintery around the edges.

“It’s…” Bertholdt said, observing it closely in the dim lighting. He swallowed. “The Armored Titan.”

“Yeah,” Reiner said. He smiled at Bertholdt softly. “Keep it with you, and it’ll protect you. The Armored Titan will always protect you.”

Bertholdt couldn’t hold back his tears any longer. “I… I don’t know what to say,” he choked out.

“Hm. How about ‘Merry Christmas’?” Reiner teased. Bertholdt sniffled.

“M-merry Christmas, Reiner,” he said.

“…Merry Christmas,” Annie said without looking up.

“Merry Christmas, you guys,” Reiner said happily. “Now let’s get back inside, the others will be up soon.”

—

Later in the day, Annie pulled Bertholdt away from where he’d been weeding the garden and into their room. Reiner was out in the shed with Mr. McGregor; the man seemed to favor Reiner over the other children, probably due to his work ethic and ability to handle larger tasks. Reiner was only fourteen, but he was already packing on pounds of muscle at an alarming rate.

“W-what is it?” Bertholdt asked as Annie began to root around in her bag. She pulled out her coin pouch and frowned.

“How much money do you have?” she asked, emptying the contents of her pouch into her hand and beginning to count. Bertholdt rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um, not much,” he said, opening the side table drawer and pulling out the can he kept his earnings in. There were only a few silver coins. “I… had to spend most of it on medicine when Reiner got sick last week.”

Annie made a frustrated noise, before going back to rifling through her things. “See if you have anything you can sell,” she commanded. Bertholdt nodded, going through his own bag. He didn’t have much, besides the compass Magath had given them to help guide their way to the wall, and the jacket he’d worn that day, which was much too small for him now. He pocketed the compass.

“Um, what is this for, Annie?” he asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.

She shrugged carelessly. “It’s only fair that we get him a new coat too,” she said flatly. “I don’t want to feel like I owe him anything.”

The two made their way to the marketplace, resolving to make quick work of it before Reiner came back and realized they’d gone. They went straight to the tailor. Bertholdt balked at the prices listed on the winter jackets, hoping that what he and Annie had between them was enough.

“Do you think this would fit him?” Annie asked, gesturing to one of the wool coats on display. Bertholdt shrugged.

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe,” he said. Annie deadpanned at him.

“He’s _your_ boyfriend, shouldn’t you know these things?” she asked. Bertholdt felt his face heat up instantaneously.

“W-what? He’s not… he isn’t my boyfriend,” he spluttered. Annie just rolled her eyes.

They walked up to the shopkeeper, and Annie tossed her coin purse up on the counter. “We’d like to buy that jacket,” she said bluntly. The man opened her purse and considered the contents, before snorting.

“That won’t do,” he said. “Winter coats are in high demand right now, I can’t just go giving them away.”

Bertholdt put his meager contribution onto the counter, too, along with the compass. Annie added a silver hairbrush she’d brought from home. The shopkeeper sighed, jotting down calculations on a notepad. “Sorry, kids, that’s still not gonna be enough.”

Annie glowered. “You can’t help us out? It’s winter and our friend is cold,” she snapped. Bertholdt blinked in surprise. He’d never heard Annie refer to either him or Reiner as so much as her comrade, let alone her friend.

“I’m sorry,” the shopkeeper said again. Annie looked ready to jump across the counter and change his mind, and Bertholdt laid a tentative hand on her arm.

“Annie,” he said softly, hoping to calm her down. Something caught his eye, suddenly, and he grabbed it off the shelf. “Um, excuse me, how about these?”

The man glanced at what Bertholdt was holding and nodded. “Those, you can afford.”

Annie was clearly still irritated as they made their way back to the house. Bertholdt cleared his throat. “I-It’s okay, Annie. He’ll like these,” he said. “I know, b-because he’s my… best friend. We’re best friends.”

Annie gave him a flat, unamused look. “My Christmas present to you is going to be pretending I believe that,” she said, and the conversation ended there.

They arrived back at the house with time to spare. Annie got to work wrapping Reiner’s present in the same brown paper he’d wrapped theirs in, while Bertholdt grabbed the knife out of his bedside table and continued what he’d started earlier that day.

A few hours later, Reiner came back in from the shed, covered in dirt and sweat and rubbing his cold hands together. “Hey, guys,” he said, giving them a warm smile despite the fact that he looked completely exhausted. He walked toward his bed, pausing when he caught sight of the packages lying on top of his blankets. “…What’s this?”

“It’s nothing much,” Annie said boredly.

Bertholdt moved to sit on the edge of Reiner’s bed and smiled at him. “Everyone should have something to open on Christmas,” he said. Reiner looked completely floored.

He reached for the bigger of the two presents, opening it slowly and staring with a blank expression as a pair of thick, wool mittens fell out into his hands. “It’s not a jacket,” Annie said, and Bertholdt could now tell she sounded a bit apologetic despite how blasé she was trying to come across. “But it’s cold out there and… it’s something.”

Reiner looked down at his hands, which were still red from the cold, and cracked and calloused from working day in and day out in such conditions. He chuckled under his breath. “They’re perfect,” he said in disbelief. “You guys…”

He didn’t seem to know how to continue, so he reached for the next present. Bertholdt shifted anxiously as he opened it, and pulled out a wooden statue similar to the one he had given Bertholdt earlier. It was much more sloppy and less detailed, having been made in a rush, but it was still clearly meant to resemble the Colossal Titan.

“I know… the Colossal Titan has more to do with destroying than protecting,” Bertholdt said, lowering his voice so he couldn’t be overheard. “But… I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe, too.”

Reiner was silent, rolling the statue back in forth in his hand a few times before sitting beside Bertholdt on the bed. He let out a breath. “Thanks, Bertholdt,” he said, before turning and shooting him a grin. “But you don’t have to worry about me. It’s my job the protect the two of you, remember? You guys… didn’t have to do all this.”

Bertholdt leaned against Reiner, taking the other boy’s hand in his and smiling sadly. “Hey, Reiner?” he said gently. “Just for today, don’t put everything on your own shoulders. We… we don’t need you to be a warrior on Christmas. You can just be you.”

Reiner was quiet for a long, long time. Eventually, he laid his head on Bertholdt’s shoulder. “Yeah, alright,” he finally said, very softly.

Annie moved from her own bed and sat on Reiner’s other side, leaning against him without a word and twirling her ring around her finger. They sat like that, for a while, not speaking, just enjoying the company of the only people in the world who could ever understand them.

“Next Christmas,” Reiner finally spoke up. “We’ll be home. All three of us, together. I promise.”


End file.
